Anticreeper.



' A N T G R E E P E R l y El v I 57 form. 0.5.

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AEI'JIGREEPER.

Specification of Letters f'eteiit.

Apglicetion Ifuiie'l, .1915, Serial No. 31%16.

Be it known had to the accompanying drawing, forming eq zrt of thisspecification.

My invention relates to means for pre venting the creeping orlongitudinal movement of railroad rails, such devices being calledanti-creepers or rail anchors.

The general object of-my invention is to provide on improved one-pieceanti-creeper.

Another object is to provide an anti creeper which is secured. to onesicle only of the rail hose without requiring auxi iary fasteningdevices. A further object is to provide a. one-piece anti-creeper whichis under stress after being applied. to the rail hose whereby itinsinteins itsgrip thereon under varying conditions of expansion,contraction, vibration and rearwardmovement of the rail.

An additional obg'ec is to provide a very light, simple, inexpensive andellective anti creeper.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illuscrate-cl several embodimentsof the mveotion. Various changes are, of course, contemplated in theforms shown, and. vsrious other forms may be devised, all of which fr llwithin the scope of the invention.

Figure l is a side elevation oi a rail with the anti-creeper appliedthereto. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of said anti-ereeper, the rail beingshown in section. 3 is e perspective view of said anti-creeper. Fig. 4is a sicle elevation of a modified form of anticreeper. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of a.

' further modified form. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of an additionalnioelifie tliorm. Fig. 7 is 2. rear elevation partly iii section ofanother modification.

The rail 1 is supported by the usual crosstie The rail anchor 3 is madepreferably of tempered spring steel, the dimensions being sehjeet toconsiderable variation clepen in on eonrlitions. In the forms shown inFl 1, 2 anti 3, the spring steel is in the ate or strip bent so to formwhat e termed e l shaped core strixction, one a e of the U, however,

ting to dueed by the rail.

an upward. thrust thereon. slightly longer than the corresponding andmuch longer than the other arm The longer sun is provided with. anopening or jaw 6 of slightly less dimensions than the correspondingsection of the rail base, whereby when the jaw is forced on to thePatented Dee. 1915. i

reil base, it will he s run somewhat there- P g a by exerting a powerfulgrip on the rail base 7 flange. Since the rail anchor is applied to oneflange only of the rail base and maintains its hold thereon by virtue ofits frictional grip, being unassisted by auxiliary fastening devices orother means providing for a positive hold thereon, this 'ieature ofspringing or distorting the rail anchor slightly to make it grip therail base with an enormous pressure, is an important one.

in order to ninimize the tendency of the anchor to move laterally awayfrom the rail due to the resultant side thrust arising out of theinclinecl relation of the'upper and lower wells of the jaw, I provideone of said walls, for example the upper wall, with e roughened surfaceto better resist said lateral tendency. The roughened surface may takethe form of saw teeth 7 inclined beck word so that as the anchor isdriven on to the base flange, said teeth do not oppose said movement,but they do oppose any reverse movement, namely a movement which wouldmove the anchor away from the rail base flange. After the anchor hasbeen driven on to the rail base flange as or as possible, e firinholdthereon-is inserted by striking the top of the anchor with a. hammer ormaul which tends to make the teeth bite into the top of the base flangeof the l'fil Such blow or blows do not neces-v sorilyi result ininclenting'the rail to an objectionable-degree, but merely insures theteeth against possible slipping.

The lower end of the arm 4 bears against the side of the cross-tie 2thereby transmit.- said tie, the creeping thrust pro- The reaction ofthe tie against the lower part of the anti-creeper produces, of course,tendency to tiltthe anti-creeper about a horizontil axis. This tiltingis not objectionable, but on the com trary, would tend to increase thegrip of the anti-creeper on the rail base. In the form of device underdiscussion, however, the tilting action. is resisted by the shorter arm5 which bears against the base of the rail and exerts A Said arm 5 issubstantially parallel portion of the arm 4 which terminates in thelower surface of under considerablecompression and exert-#- ing apowerful upward thrust againstthe all base, the reactioirbeing 1n thetorm of a powerful downward thrust by the arm 4 increasing the bite ofthe teeth 7 against The anchor, iii

the top of the rail base. final position, may be vertical or may betilted slightly as shown in the drawings, dc pending on the length ofthe arm 5. The distortion of the anchor, in general, is responsible forstill further increasing the frictional engagement between the railanchor as a whole and the rail base, whereby said rail anchor maintainsits grip on said rail base independently of any reactions due to thecreeping thrust. As a result, said hold is elfectively maintained evenif the rail undergoes a rearward movement Withdrawing the rail anchorfrom engagement with the tie. In other words, the rail anchor does notloosen its hold or fall oil the raileven when withdrawn from operativeengagement with the tie, nor do relative differences in the expansionand contraction of the rail and of the rail anchor result in suchloosening. Instead, the rail anchor adheres to the -rail,.under allconditions, and when a forward movement thereof is subsequently producedby the rolling stock, said rail anchor reengages the tie and resistsfurther creeping. The biting of the teeth into the rail flange not onlyhelps to hold the rail anchor against lateral movement, but also againstmovement along the rail; in other words, it assists preventing the railfrom slipping through the anchor.

In Fig. 41, I have illustrated a modified form of anti-creeper 8 whichis substantially the equivalent of two anti-creepers such as shown inFigs. 1, 2 and 3, and formed integrally, resulting in a structure havingsubstanti lly the form of a W in side elevation. This anti-creeper maybe applied equally Well to either side of the rail base, providing astructure which is longer in a direction parallel to the length of therail than the preceding construction. The tiltin tendency is thereforeresisted to a corre spondingly greater extent. The pressure exerted bythe two jaws against the top of 1 the base flange is practically doublethe pressure enertedby one jaw, alone. Accordingly,

the frictional engagement with the rail. base is correspondinglyincreased. Before the rail anchor is applied the two longer arms aresubstantially parallel, but when the rail anchor is in position, saidarms incline slightly toward each other as shown, in the drawing, forreasons which will be fully understood in view of the description of thepreceding form of anchor.

The rail anchor 9 shown in Fig. 5 is substantially the same as the arm4: of the forms previously described, the bent-up lower ends beingomitted. Under these conditions,

there is a tendency for the anti-creeper to tilt somewhat. However, themetal of which the rail anchor is composed, is of such thickness, andthe rail anchor is sprung so firmly over the base flange, that whatevertilting takes place" is inconsequential, and to whatever extent it doesoccur, it tends to increase the grip of the anti-creeper on the railbase. This form of anti-creeper may be applied equally well to eitherside of the rail base and on the same side of the tie.

In Fig. 6 the rail anchor is substantially similar to that shown in Fig.5, but is slightly modified by bending rearwardly the extremityl0,thereby providing a rearwardlv extending reinforcing flange intendedto bear upwardly against the bottom of :the'

rail, and further resists the tilting tendency.

Although as previously stated, all of the foregoing forms of rail anchoradhere to one side of the rail base without auxiliary fasteningdevices,nevertheless, means may be provided if desired, to positivelylock the anchor on the rail. In Fig. 7 I have shown a further modifiedform of anchor 11 which is similar to that shown in Fig. 4% except thatan arm 12 projects laterally beneath the rail base and has an upturnedend 13 which on.- gages theopposite side c said rail base. Said arm isintegral with the rest of the anchor and joins it at the pointwhere thetwo short arms unite ar 1. is formed by simply leaving a lateral e sionat the middle of the. plate which is st ped out in a die. Said arm beingresilie it may be sprung downwardly about as shown in dotted lines insaid figure when the anchor is being applied, but it snaps upwardly tooperative position as soon as the projection clears the edge of the railbase. The fastening arm 12 in the form illustrated in Fig. 7 orin somebe obtained with other constructions. Furthermore, the teeth need notnecessarily be on the upper side of the jaw. Various other changes mayalso be made without departing from the invention as defined in theapplended claims.

aving thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An anti-creeper comprising a metal jaw, the opening of which isslightly less than the corresponding section of the rail base wherebysaid jaw is sprung when forced on to one side of said rail base andmaintains its hold thereon to resist creeping without auxiliaryfastening means.

2. An anti-creeper comprising a metal plate having an opening therein ofslightly I less dimensions than thecorresponding section of one slde ofa rail base whereby said plate is sprung when forced on to said sidevand maintains its position thereon entirely by its frictional grip, saidanti-creeper beari'ng directly against a cross tie to resist creeping. v

3. A rail anchor comprising a plate of tempered steel having a wedgeshaped opening therein corresponding in outline to one side of a railbase, the walls of said opening being at'right angles to the sides ofsaid plate and the latter being arranged substantially at right anglesto the length of the rail.

A rail anchor 5 comprising a plate of tempered steel having a wedgeshaped open ing therein corresponding in outline to one side of a railbase,'the Walls of said openi ing teeth which are adapted to bite intothe base flange of the rail to prevent lateral movement ofsaid plate.

6. A rail anchor, comprising a U shaped metal plate, one arm beinglonger than the other and having an opening to receive the rail base. r

7. A rail anchor, comprising a U shaped metal plate, having one armlonger than the other, the longer arm having an opening to receive therail base, the lower surface of said opening being lower than the uppersurface of the other arm.

8. 'A rail anchor, comprising a pair of jaws which grip the same side ofthe rail base, in combination with means between said jaws, bearingupwardly against the rail base to maintain said jaws under tension.

9. A rail anchor, comprising a vertical plate, having a notch thereinwhich receives one side of the rail base, and having a rearwardlyarranged extension which bears upwardly against the rail base to resisttilting.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 26th day ofMay, 1915.

FREDERICK A. PRESTON.

